Beijing Dazed in Wake of Xinjiang Terrorist Blast

Paramilitary policemen stand guard near the exit of the South Railway Station, where three people were killed in a bomb and knife attack in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region, May 1, 2014.

Reuters

The recent bomb blast that hit a rail station in the capital of Xinjiang just hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a trip there appears to have pushed Beijing away from its usual playbook for combating terrorism in the country.

And that could have political fallout for President Xi Jinping, whose recent trip to the region was given great prominence across state media.

Advertisement

In previous incidents, China’s propaganda apparatus been quick to respond, portraying the attacks as part of a general effort by separatists and extremists to divide the nation.

This time, Communist Party media appeared far less eager to respond—perhaps because President Xi had been visiting the region in recent days. News accounts of the blast were surprisingly brief and emphasized that the situation had quickly returned to normal. Social media posts about the event were quickly wiped off. Instead of continuing the recent tendency by authorities to be preemptive and comprehensive as a way of getting ahead of rumors, this time the Party-controlled press did neither.

Recently there have been signs that the Xi leadership was considering expanding the way Beijing addresses ethnic tension in the restive region — by looking into the social and economic disparities that many analysts think underlie unrest, rather than simply taking up the truncheons and cracking down.

But in the aftermath of the April 30th event, there’s been no clear signal which approach Beijing actually wants to take. As if at a loss, state media continues to repeat stories of Xi’s visit to the region, addressing the attack obliquely if at all.

Xi’s appearances in Xinjiang stretched from conversations with security troops to discussions with local farmers and their families, and included praise for model workers in the region, as well as inspections of officers and soldiers. Garrulous as ever, Xi also visited a bilingual school, a local mosque and addressed local cadres.

At all of these stops, Xi was rendered in news coverage as the Chief Listener, eager to know the actual conditions facing residents and their representatives. As he himself noted in a number of these conversations with his constituency according to news coverage, “the situation [in Xinjiang] has changed greatly.”

And that presents some direct political challenges for Xi.

First, the fact that Party media has emphasized Xi’s connection to Xinjiang means that events there are now directly tied to his ability to manage them. Wherein before Xi could justifiably claim that terrorism in Xinjiang was a problem he inherited from his predecessors, his decision to spend so much time there recently runs the risk of making the region an early showpiece of his tenure as China’s paramount politician.

Further terrorist attacks — such as the one on a police station in the city of Aksu on Thursday night — will be seen by Xi’s allies as an assault on his reputation, and viewed by his political opponents as an opportunity to question his skills as a reformer who can address China’s shortcomings.

Moreover, this rise in violence comes at a time when the Chinese government already faces a litany of oncoming challenges — increasing regional tensions, the 25th anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square and an increasingly erratic economy.

Not for the first time, Xi Jinping has shown himself to be energetic, eager to listen and willing to try novel approaches.

But perhaps for the first time, Xi is being forced to confront a problem he likely didn’t see coming — and for which he has no easy answers.

Russell Leigh Moses is the Dean of Academics and Faculty at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies. He is writing a book on the changing role of power in the Chinese political system.

About China Real Time Report

China Real Time Report is a vital resource for an expanding global community trying to keep up with a country changing minute by minute. The site offers quick insight and sharp analysis from the wide network of Dow Jones reporters across Greater China, including Dow Jones Newswires’ specialists and The Wall Street Journal’s award-winning team. It also draws on the insights of commentators close to the hot topic of the day in law, policy, economics and culture. Its editors can be reached at chinarealtime@wsj.com.